Newbie with priest choice paralysis

[Raynel]

TL;DR I want to play a debuff/CC priest and can't decide which subclass in deadfire.

Hello Friends, long time lurker, first time poster.

I started with Deadfire, and got pretty far, enough to get 65pts for Berath's blessings so I'd be set. I was playing a priest and I rather liked it.

I'm now trying to do my first real run through of both Pillars of Eternity I and POE Deadfire. I've decided to play a priest again. I like Chanter a lot, but my friend likes to create characters and he created a Chanter for me to use in my game so I'll go with priest. I intend to play through both PoE I and II again after this current run through both games (and a little break) probably as a Chanter.

I am paralyzed with indecision on what type of priest to play. I don't want to do the standard buffer I did last time, I'd like to do something different with CC or debuffs instead. I considered Wizard, but I just don't like that class as much as priest. I am looking at Wael or Berath as the deity choice for both games, primarily because I like their CCs and debuffs in Deadfire. I like the idea of Wael more (I like rods and illusions), but I feel like the granted spells don't seem that great for CC. People say Confusion is not very good and Gaze of the Adragan is very short. Those were the two spells I was most excited about and it seems like they are bad. Berath seems like a better choice for debuffing (and most of the free spells are things I would take anyway), but I prefer CC if I can get it for the character. Plus, my friend's created character is Skald multiclass (haven't decided what) for Deadfire, and I anticipate him covering debuffing.

I'm open to other class ideas, but what I like about priest is ability to heal baseline, a summon, and buffing when I feel like it (lol). I just don't want those to be the primary things he does.

Any advice? I find myself stressing over this far more than I should. I loved Deadfire so much, I just want my next go to be even more awesome. Thanks for any help you can provide.

[Boeroer]

Hi and welcome!  

Priest of Woedica (Deadfire) has very nice debuffs. But there isn't one in PoE. And doing Woedica's bidding is a bit of an evil path most of times.

I'd say Priest of Berath then. Has a nice mix of debuffs and alternative dmg (corrode instead of fire). And of course it fits very well into the Deafire storyline.

Edited June 27, 2023 by Boeroer

[thelee]

2 hours ago, Raynel said:

Gaze of the Adragan is very short

Gaze of the Adragan is still very powerful even with a short duration - and with intellect and possibly some sources of PL you can get some nice duration out of it.

Confusion is lame, yeah. For one, most enemies are already dumb enough to hurt their allies with spells w/out needing to hit them with confusion.

Arkemyr's Wondrous Torment is actually really good IMO - use it on bosses to enable all sorts of other debuff-based strats (such as a Gaze of the Adragan) or degenerate Combusting Wounds strategies. The fact that it drops Resolve so much for so long is really powerful, and because it targets will, it's easy to enable (club modal + willbreaker, for example).

 

not sure i helped any with your indecision/restartitis, but I personally prefer to play Wael priests both because of the flavor and the mix of spells. In terms of debuffs, Berath only gets a couple unique spells (Rusted Armor and Spreading Plague) and honestly Rusted Armor isn't that great compared to what a priest can do at that tier and non-berath priests still have other good options at tier 3 (despondent blows is a personal favorite, but that divine mark or whatever spell is great against tough foes or bosses).

[Raynel]

Wow, I am surprised that people responded so quickly, thank you.

I think I have to consider why I wanted to play those priests. Basically, I wanted to CC as a priest, I guess for RP purposes. I got caught up in Pillar of Faith and Confusion and Gaze of the Adragan, etc. and thought maybe it would work. Reading what you have written and looking over priest, I'm realizing that Priests... don't CC. Not really. There's a few options, but it's not the kind of thing you can build arround. They Debuff much better than I expected, though, as even the comments here made about Wael focus on a debuff (Arkemyr's Wonderous Torment).

So I think Im'a have to decide on two options:

1. Take the Aedyrean Clergy background and play a Wizard or Cipher (although Cipher seems restrictive to me since I have to focus some time on hitting things and can't take talents like Aspirant's mark, since that's a loss in action economy). Then, I'd have the CC and debuffing I want... and be good at using a Rod in PoE I.... AND have summons/charm, while still being a "priest". Maybe I can use scrolls for healing (I didn't want to be the primary healer anyway, just have it as an option). I heard there are Wael-focused robes and rod or something that increases Illusion PLs anyway, which would be better used by a class that... ya know.... actually has illusions as major spell keywords.

2. Give up the CC and just be really good at debuffs. In my mind, I think I mostly just wanted to support a party offensively (debuffs, CC, pet distractions) as a priest, anyway. I could choose either subclass then, although while it's true that Berath doesn't have as cool options as Wael, they are mostly things I want anyway (Holy Meditation, Divine Terror, Salvation of Time) with some bonus debuffs (Spreading Plague, Rusted Armor).

 

Thank you for commenting. You have helped me greatly, as I feel I have a better understanding of class capabilities after reading your comments. It's really helping me make a decision more easily.

[thelee]

1 hour ago, Raynel said:

Cipher (although Cipher seems restrictive to me since I have to focus some time on hitting things and can't take talents like Aspirant's mark, since that's a loss in action economy)

you should consider a psion.

extremely early game their focus generation lags, but once you start getting 2 focus/second, it's great. it's not too hard to avoid the downside of having their focus generation shutoff, so long as you don't want to also melee.

there's also stuff you can do with beguiler to easily generate lots of focus from using powers, but psion is more flexible and can pull stuff off that no other cipher can.

[Raynel]

7 hours ago, thelee said:

8 hours ago, Raynel said:

 

you should consider a psion.

I think I may do that fir a future playthings, but for this run, I want to be the same character for both games and prion isn't available until the second game.

[Boeroer]

Debuff/CC "priest" could also lead you to Druid - if you imagine some Druids to be something like priests of Galawain.

They have a great mix of damage, cc/debuff, buff and healing. Some summons, too - in both games.

 

 

[Raynel]

Yea, I thought about that. I don't think I like the druid asthetic, but I'll look into that class one more time to make sure.

[Boeroer]

I mean you can pretty much shape the aesthetic of your druid.

In PoE you'll get all the druid spells automatically (like Priest) so the "building" of your character is limited spell-wise - but it's still your choice which spells you want to use.
In Deadfire you have to pick spells at level-up which leads to an even more individually shaped character.

But yeah... "nature" will always be a prominent element of a druid. Even if you set aside all the elemental and beast stuff and focus on decay or so.  

[mjo2138]

I am finishing a play through as a priest of Woedica and it has been fun; however, I still end up just using an (empowered)Storm of Holy Fire and some buffs for most encounters. I also will follow up the SoHF with P7 Writ of Sorcery , but honestly, it is easier to just kill mobs or buff my party with Devotions of the Faithful/Dire blessing. That already takes up 8-10 seconds. Honestly, a companion or adventure can easily fill the role of Priest. Now I have Vatnir as a Celebrant (Priest/Chanter) so he does the buffing, but my priest focusing on dmg/CC. That is one thing you can do. 

I think you should just choose whichever subclass you think is cool for priest, and one which has unique spells you wanna try.